How Phantom Blood Should Have Ended
by S. E. Mercury
Summary: After Dio Brando's death, Jonathan still worries about his and Erina's safety, after all, he's seen the kind of things Dio can do, and he fears he's not really gone. In an attempt to put his mind at ease, Erina resolves to learn Hamon to prove she can protect herself if needed. And it was a very good thing that she did.


**A/N**: I'm slowly trying to cross post all my fics from AO3 onto here. This one was originally written in 2017 for Auralime (check her out on here, AO3, and Tumblr under the same username!) for our friend group's Secret Santa! I figured I'd finally share it with this website!

* * *

It had been a week since Jonathan had returned. His attitude had troubled Erina ever since, as despite his ever-present smile, she could tell something was still bothering him. When she tried to ask him about it, he always just waved his hand and supplied her with vague answers. But she still saw the way his hands shook when she pressed further, and it didn't sit right with her.

However, one day she walked into the dining room and caught him staring vacantly into his slowly cooling coffee cup. Erina placed a tender hand on top of one of his, heart sinking as he instinctively flinched away from her touch. "I'm sorry," he said softly, weak smile appearing on his lips. "I'm just a little jumpy this morning."

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. "You say something to that effect every morning," she whispered, avoiding his gaze for just a moment.

"Well, I'm a little jumpy every morning." Jonathan let out the smallest of laughs in a feeble attempt to ease his fiancée's worry, which in turn only caused it to grow.

Erina's eyebrows knitted together as she searched his face. "I wish you weren't," she said in a quiet voice. Before Jonathan could open his mouth to apologize, she went on, "I don't know everything that happened, but I don't like that you feel like this all the time now." The burns that had covered his body had been healed by what had seemed like magic, but she was certain there were emotional scars that could not be so easily repaired. "I don't know what all happened, and I understand if you're not ready to talk about it, but I want you to know that you're safe here with me."

Jonathan's mouth curled into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. He shook his head slowly, moving his hand so that he could hold Erina's. "I'm not worried about my own safety." He opened his mouth to speak further, but appeared unable to find the proper words to continue, so he closed his mouth once more and returned his eyes to his cold coffee.

Erina moved closer to Jonathan so that she was sitting next to him. She kept her one hand under his, but moved her other to his shoulder to hold him comfortingly. "What happened, Jonathan? Please tell me. I want to be able to help you in any way you need!" She felt his hand begin to tremble in hers, and in response she began rubbing small circles on his shoulder to comfort him.

It caught them both by surprise when they heard the quietest of drips and looked down to the table to find a drop that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Jonathan reached up and brushed his cheek lightly with the tips of his fingers and looked slightly surprised at the tears shining there. Erina reached up and wiped away the rest of them and placed a soft kiss on his still-damp cheek. "What happened?" she repeated in a voice barely above a whisper.

The words came tumbling out of his mouth, everything, all of it. The way Dio had tormented his adolescence, his plot to kill their father, the mask, Hamon… Everything all came out in a flurry of disjointed sentences with suppressed sobs in between. Erina wasn't able to follow everything exactly, and there was still a lot that she had questions about, but the way her love's voice broke when he explained how he had killed Dio moved her to tears as well. She wrapped her arms around him once he had stopped speaking, hoping to quell the tremors that shook him.

"It's okay," she said, trying to keep her own voice steady so that she could anchor his own emotions.

Jonathan took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "I just… I just wish…"

Erina quieted him with a soft kiss. "I know." She rested her forehead against his own, desperately hoping he could feel her love through the gesture. It wasn't necessary for him to finish the sentence, as she already knew exactly what his kind heart was feeling: guilt. Guilt for the things he had done and the things he couldn't prevent. "I know."

A fresh wave of tears spilled down his face as they held each other for several moments, just taking in each other's presence. Once they had both calmed down they separated slightly and Jonathan whispered, "Thank you."

Erina wanted to protest, to say that she really hadn't done anything, but instead she just squeezed his arm, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. She sat like that for several minutes, hoping the silence was one that marked the beginning of healing for him. "Thank you for telling me," she finally whispered to him. "I know it wasn't easy."

"Thank you for caring enough to listen," he replied.

"Of course I care," she said with a small giggle. "I care about you more than anyone else in the world." With slight hesitation, Erina then asked, "Is there anything else bothering you?"

Jonathan looked away briefly, pursing his lips slightly in thought. "Yes, but it's irrational."

"You just told me about vampires and a cursed mask, what could possibly be more irrational?"

He let out a small chuckle at that, causing relief to coat Erina's chest as his usual smile returned. "I suppose you have a point. I guess I'm just afraid that somehow it isn't all over."

She nodded in understanding. "That's hardly irrational, Jonathan. You went through so much these past weeks. I'd be afraid too if I saw everything you had. But if more people come, you can always defeat them too, right?"

"I suppose," he said with a deep sigh, swirling the cold coffee around in the cup as a way to occupy his hands. "I'm more worried about something happening to you though."

Erina hadn't been expecting that response, but she couldn't say that it surprised her. Ever since they had met, he had done nothing but look out for her wellbeing, and considering she was the only family he had left… "You'll protect me. I'm not worried."

His eyes darkened. "I wasn't able to protect everyone already. I can't help but worry."

There was a silence again, but this one felt much heavier than the last. Erina shifted her weight uncomfortably in the chair, unable to find a good argument against it. "It wasn't your fault," she began. "There was so much—"

"I know," he said, interrupting her. "Knowing it wasn't my fault doesn't ease the guilt right now. And if something ever happened to you…" Jonathan let his voice trail off, not even wanting to imagine the scenario.

Erina searched her thoughts, trying to think of some small comfort to offer him. "What if you taught me?" she finally asked, somewhat surprised at the own words coming out of her mouth.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Teach you what?"

"The stuff you used to fight," she replied. "Hamon."

Jonathan put his thumb to his chin and peered down at the table, eyebrows furrowed in thought. "I could try," he said. "I don't know how well I would be able to teach, seeing as I barely understand it myself." He turned his eyes back towards hers, a new determination burning within them. "But I will do my best."

So then began Erina's training in Hamon. Jonathan's statement proved to be correct; he wasn't the best teacher, still learning how to use his powers to their full extent himself, but he stayed true to his promise in doing his best. The first night they tried, he focused on simply getting her to feel the energy flowing, which proved to be more tough than he remembered. Eventually though, holding her hand, he was able to feel that, though weak, the Hamon energy was flowing under her control.

A few days later, and she was able to make ripples in water glasses at her own free will. She progressed, getting stronger and more confident, to the point that both she and Jonathan were both satisfied that, in the event of an emergency, she would be able to mostly defend herself. With no formal training though, it was still a constant worry in the back of his head, but less so than it had been right after he returned.

The night before their wedding, he gave her one last test. Grabbing a knife, he made a fairly large incision in his hand.

"Jonathan, what are you doing?" she protested, making to grab the knife out of his hand.

He let her take it from him without a fight. "Heal my hand," he said, resting his hand palm up on the table.

Erina stared at him with a puzzled expression before she realized what he was doing. Fingers now beginning to shake slightly in the anxiety of being tested like this, she held his hand in hers and concentrated. She took a deep, slow breath, willing her blood to flow towards her hands. The first time she felt the Hamon energy it had frightened her, but now it was warm and comforting, like hot tea running through her veins. The wound in Jonathan's hand slowly began to close up, not even leaving a scar as evidence.

He smiled proudly at her handiwork, flexing his fingers to admire how nicely the cut had been healed. "Now do you think you'd be able to do this in an emergency?"

She glanced nervously to him before he chuckled, assuring her that he wasn't going to do any more surprise tests of her abilities. "I think so," she replied hesitantly. "I hope the situation never calls for it."

"Me neither," he said.

Unfortunately though, that exact situation was called for a few days later. Hoping to just have a nice boat ride to America for their honeymoon, they were ambushed by Dio and a band of vampires that had previously been the other ship's passengers. Concern pricked at Erina's stomach the moment Jonathan excused himself from their table in the dining room and dashed off. Her blood ran cold at the sight of the boiler room.

Though she hadn't spoken to him in years, there was no doubt it was Dio's head in the glass container in the hands of some unfamiliar person. Jonathan lay on the floor, crumpled up in a pool of his own blood, what looked like blood vessels still piercing him from Dio's head.

"Erina!" he called out in warning, fearing the worst.

The sight was too much for her to take in, and her vision was clouded by her own tears as she stepped over the body of the woman at the base of the stairs, whispering a small apology as she did so. As she rushed to her husband's side, she heard Dio making a speech about letting her see her lover die.

All of the anger she had ever felt towards him came rushing out in one scream. Erina whipped her head around, looking not at her husband, but at the horrible shell of a man that had done this to him. From the very first time they met, he had done nothing but make her life miserable – stealing her first kiss in attempt to turn her against Jonathan, tormenting her husband all throughout their formative years, murdering the people they loved and countless innocents – and this rage finally bubbled over inside of her. Operating on instinct and reaction more than calculated strategy, Erina rushed at the head of her enemy, arm outstretched and palm seeking to collide with his face.

The same warmth flowed through her blood, reaching its peak when a beam of light shot out from her hand as it made contact with Dio's head, propelling him backward into the machinery. The man who had been carrying Dio looked to Erina first in anger and then fear before leaping into the mess of gears and pistons to search for his master.

Fire still in her blood, she rushed back to Jonathan's side, placing her hands at the wounds of his neck. Panic beginning to set in, she was unable to heal him as fast as she'd liked, but the bleeding was slowing down and the light was returning to his eyes. "Jonathan! Can you hear me? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Despite the situation, a slightly amused smiled crossed his features before he shook his head. "I'm fine," he said hoarsely, still struggling to breathe a little. "We need to get out of here though."

Erina noticed the smoke beginning to fill the room and glanced over at the machinery, which she could have sworn was moving in a different way than it had been moments ago. "Where do we go?"

Jonathan looked around, moving to stand up before she pressed him back down, not content with the state of his wounds yet. "The coffin," he finally said, pointing to it in the corner. "That should protect us."

She nodded, wiping her blood covered hands on the side of her dress before helping Jonathan up, still worried he wasn't healed enough. Erina supported his weight the best she could as she helped him walk over to the coffin, smoke in the air growing thicker by the second.

"Wait," he said as she helped get into it. Struggling against her arms, he called out, "The baby!"

Erina turned around to see the deceased woman on the floor still holding her crying baby. Slightly shocked that she hadn't noticed the infant before, she rushed over and grabbed the child before climbing into the coffin herself.

It was several tense moments of cramped heat and loud explosions after they had closed themselves in. They did their best to shield the child's head and each other from the walls of the coffin as they were rocked around. Once everything seemed to have calmed down, Jonathan hesitantly opened the lid, breathing a sigh of relief as the setting sunlight seeped in. Opening it up fully, they made a makeshift raft out of the coffin, allowing themselves to stretch out a bit more.

Without thinking, Erina rocked the baby in her arms, still trying to process exactly what had just happened. Jonathan rubbed her back reassuringly, offering her a small smile. "Sorry our honeymoon wasn't exactly what we had planned," he said, wiping a bit of blood off of his cheek.

Erina blinked a few times before bursting into laughter. Jonathan was caught off guard by her response, but ended up joining her. Catching her breath, Erina managed to get out, "It certainly wasn't what we expected, but in the end, we're safe. We're okay. And that's all that matters."

He nodded his head once, gazing down at her lovingly as she held the orphaned child in her arms. "That is very true." Jonathan looked out at the ocean, searching for any sight of land before his eyebrows turned upward in concern. "I think we might be out here for a while."

"As long as we have each other, we'll be fine," she replied with confidence. "And besides, we can probably use Hamon to speed things up or at least find out where land is."

He nodded once more, solemnly looking to where the boat was sinking.

As if she could read his mind, she answered the unspoken question he was barely daring to think himself. "It is possible. If he survived once, he could survive again. And I'm sure there's more too somewhere."

"What do we do?" he asked solemn expression threatening to sink into something more somber.

Erina reached over and took his hand in hers. "The same thing we have done all this time. The same thing you have done all these years," she said, squeezing his hand. "We fight."


End file.
